Hepkat From Austria, joined Aug 2000, 2341 posts, RR: 2 Posted (12 years 8 months 1 week 6 days ago) and read 7441 times:
Could someone please explain to me the difference between scheduled and charter airlines? Why not just be a scheduled airline? Are there advantages, less restrictions, etc?
CXCPA From Hong Kong, joined May 2000, 387 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (12 years 8 months 1 week 6 days ago) and read 7421 times:
scheduled flight: operates regularly and planned long time before.
charter flight: operate irregularly and my be planned a short time before flying. And charter flight just like you lease a coach for a trip. Both scheduled flight and charter flight have restriction by agreement and the local law. Please visit my homepage
Vadheim From Norway, joined Jul 2000, 618 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (12 years 8 months 1 week 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 7414 times:
I don't know how common it is with charter airlines in the U.S, however in Europe you have many charter airlines (e.g. Britannia, Airtours, Premiair, Condor, LTU etc.) Charter airlines usually fly to typical holiday destinations for different tour operators. Very often the tour operator own its own airline too (Thomson-Britannia, Airtours-Airtours, Cosmos-Monarch etc).
The charter airline normally operates seasonal routes to the destinations where the tour operator offer trips (e.g. Mediterranean in summer and Canary Islands in winter). Charter airlines normally have high load factors (90-100%) and they don't have daily flights to it's destinations, maybe just once a week or even forthnightly.
Trintocan From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2000, 3191 posts, RR: 4 Reply 3, posted (12 years 8 months 1 week 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 7409 times:
Scheduled airlines, like the major flag carriers, operate flights according to schedules drawn up to cover several months or even years at a time. These airlines are thus committed to flying the planes for the said periods on the said routes whether they are filled or not. In so doing they offer a predictable range of services and can thus be booked up to 1 year in advance in some cases. Also, they nowadays often operate in codeshares with other carriers to offer even more services but, to do so, the importance of keeping to schedules is emphasized. Scheduled flights are thus preferred by most travellers, especially business flyers.
Charter airlines charge lower fares by anticipating a full load or else pre-selling the plane's capacity to an agent, who then sells off the seats to passengers. In order to do so, however, they must be assured of a full load and so they generally operate only at peak periods on specific routes. For example, the Caribbean is served by a number of European charters during the peak tourist season, November to April. Some of these carriers include Condor Flugdienst, jmc air, Airtours, Britannia and Martinair. In POS, however, the charters usually come from JFK or YYZ during Carnival (February), summer and Christmas when passenger traffic here is heaviest (eg Tower, ATA, Royal, Skyservice, Air Transat). By preselling the seats and anticipating demand charters are able to serve long, thin routes which would be very unprofitable to run on a scheduled basis.
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From Austria, joined Aug 2000, 2341 posts, 
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